First Solar, Tesoro add red to energy stocks

NYSE Arca Oil Index down 11.7% in May; Chesapeake hit hard

SteveGelsi

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — First Solar Inc. and Tesoro Corp. ranked among the biggest losers in the S&P 500 Index on Thursday, as energy stocks ended the month of May with further losses.

Energy stocks capped off weeks of brutal selling as crude prices declined and equities reeled in the face of the European debt crisis and slower growth in the United States and Asia.

Macro trends such as a rising U.S. dollar indirectly affect energy stocks, which often trade in concert with the price of oil, since crude is the source of most of the sector’s earnings. As the dollar rose this month as a hedge against a weaker euro, oil prices fell, pressuring energy stocks.

At the same time, the prospect of sluggish economic growth, advances on the diplomatic front with Iran and surplus supplies of crude weighed on oil and gas producers.

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